Boston Scientific (BSX) had planned to take its fast-growing endosurgery group public to raise as much as $1 billion. According to The Associated Press: "The endosurgery unit has recently enjoyed strong growth, and is expected to generate $1.4 billion in revenue this year — nearly one-fifth of the revenue at a company best known for stents and defibrillators, heart devices that are suffering slow sales."
The parent company needed the money. But, now its says that the unit is worth more if its is completely owned by Boston Scientific, a company with $7 billion in debt. As an alternative, the company will cut jobs and sell some assets. BSX shares are off about 55% over the last two years.
The story from the company sounds a bit off. BSX would still have had clear voting control over the unit. And, it could have used the proceeds to improve a flagging balance sheet.
What happened? Well, perhaps in a market where IPOs have become very difficult, BSX’s bankers told the company that it would not get full value for the unit, and management decided to pull the deal. In it place, management can resort to a favorite way out.
Fire a lot of people.
Douglas A. McIntyre
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